医道始大着矣。先君菊潭翁甫以医鸣世。载诸郡志。足征也。尝谓礼曰。医仅足以济一方。汝其求之孔孟。以大
其施乎。爰命业儒。补郡庠弟子员。屡试弗捷。贡太学生。受临清州 。奈世方以资格待仕进。而礼又素性弗克
脂韦。于时仕甫三载。即谢政归。因思先正有云。不用于时。则当为明医以济
世。乃因究心医业。博观前辈遗书。汗牛充栋。言各有长。然纷纭浩漫。靡有归一。苟非神而明之者。莫窥其涯。
是以庸医贸贸。未免执一废百。而以药试病。其为仁术之累多矣。礼幼侍先君。颇知梗概。既而锐意钻研。殚心
穷究。乃克会通诸家之说。撮其枢要。析其淆乱。间附己意。以成全书。凡十卷。先审病以定名。次原病以着论。
论确而后察脉。脉明而后处方。汤液丸散。用各有宜。编讫。题曰医圣阶梯。夫神圣工巧。医之等级也。然必由
易简。而后极至可臻。志于医学人。苟能于是书而寻绎焉。则向往不迷。而神圣之域。不于此而可渐跻乎。于戏。
凡厥有生。受形天地。五方之水土不齐。七情之感人亦异。安得滞于闻见之偏。而不知变通之妙哉。是集也。合
医学之道从此大为彰显。我的父亲菊潭翁刚刚凭借医术闻名于世，这一事迹记载在各郡的地方志中，足以作为证据。他曾经引用《礼记》中的道理说：“行医仅仅足以救济一方百姓，你应当去探求孔孟之道，以扩大你的施恩范围。”于是命令我研习儒学，成为郡学的生员（秀才），但多次参加科举考试均未成功。后来我被选送为太学生，在临清州求学。无奈当时社会风气仅凭资历来对待仕途晋升，而我也本性不擅长圆滑世故、阿谀奉承。那时我刚做官三年，便辞去政务回家。于是想起先贤曾说：“如果不被当世所用，就应当成为明医来济世救人。”因此我潜心钻研医学，广泛阅读前辈留下的书籍，藏书之多使得牛累得汗流浃背、屋子堆满至栋梁。这些书籍言论各有长处，然而内容纷繁浩大，没有统一的归旨。如果不是能够神妙地领悟并阐明其义理的人，无法窥探其边际。因此庸医们糊里糊涂，难免固执一端而废弃其他百端，用药物去试探病症，这给仁术带来的拖累太多了。我幼年侍奉父亲，大致知晓其中的梗概。随后我专心致志地钻研，竭尽心力穷尽探究，才得以融会贯通各家的学说，摘取其中的关键要点，辨析其中的混乱之处，偶尔附上自己的见解，从而完成全书。共十卷。首先审察病症以确定病名，其次推究病因以阐述理论，理论确立之后才诊察脉象，脉象明晰之后才开具处方。汤剂、丸药、散剂，使用各有适宜之处。编纂完成后，题名为《医圣阶梯》。“神、圣、工、巧”是医学的等级划分。然而必须从简易入手，然后才能达到极高的境界。立志于医学的人，如果能够在这本书中寻味探索，那么向往的目标就不会迷失，而神圣的境界，不就可以由此逐渐登攀吗？唉！凡是所有有生命的事物，都禀受天地之形。五方的水土条件不齐，七情对人的影响也各不相同。怎么能拘泥于见闻的偏颇，而不知道变通的奥妙呢？这部文集，综合了……
The Way of Medicine was thereby greatly elucidated. My father, the Old Man of Jutan (Ju Tan Weng), had just gained fame in the world through his medical skills, a fact recorded in the local gazetteers of various commanderies, which serves as sufficient evidence. He once cited the *Book of Rites* (*Liji*), saying: "Practicing medicine is merely sufficient to relieve one region; you should seek the teachings of Confucius and Mencius to expand your benevolence." Thus, he ordered me to study Confucianism and become a student member of the commandery school (Xiucai). However, I failed repeatedly in the imperial examinations. Later, I was recommended as a student at the Imperial Academy (Taixue) and studied in Linqing Prefecture. Unfortunately, the society of that time treated official advancement solely based on seniority and qualifications, and my nature was inherently unsuited to being slick or obsequious. After serving in office for only three years, I resigned from public duties and returned home. I then recalled the words of the sages: "If not employed by the times, one should become a enlightened physician to save the world." Consequently, I devoted myself to the study of medicine, widely reading the remaining works of predecessors. The books were so numerous that they filled the house to the rafters and made the oxen sweat. Each work had its merits, yet their contents were chaotic and vast, lacking a unified focus. Unless one could divinely comprehend and clarify them, no one could fathom their boundaries. Therefore, mediocre physicians, acting blindly, inevitably adhered to one aspect while discarding hundreds of others, using drugs to test diseases, which caused much harm to this art of benevolence. In my childhood, I attended my father and knew the general outline. Later, I dedicated myself to intensive research, exhausting my mind to explore thoroughly, until I could integrate the theories of various schools, extract their essentials, clarify the confusion, and occasionally add my own insights, thus completing the entire book. It consists of ten volumes. First, examine the disease to determine its name; second, trace the origin of the disease to present the theory; after the theory is established, observe the pulse; once the pulse is clear, prescribe the formula. Decoctions (Tangye), pills, and powders are used according to their specific appropriateness. Upon completion, I titled it *The Ladder to the Medical Sage*. "Divine, Sacred, Skillful, and Ingenious" represent the levels of medicine. However, one must start with simplicity and ease to eventually reach the highest attainment. Those who aspire to medicine, if they can ponder and explore this book, will not lose their way in their pursuit, and the realm of the Divine and Sacred can gradually be ascended from here. Alas! All living beings receive their form from Heaven and Earth. The soil and water of the five directions are not uniform, and the influence of the Seven Emotions varies. How can one remain stuck in biased observations and fail to understand the subtleties of adaptation? This collection synthesizes...